Packaged, pre-shredded vegetables, such as cabbages, have been processed and marketed for many years. Due to the hard and undesirable texture of the cabbage core, the process for commercially preparing shredded cabbage involves coring the cabbage before shredding the head (i.e., the leaves). Coring is typically accomplished manually using hand-held coring rings or blades. In general, the manual coring process is considered inefficient and labor intensive. In addition, if the whole cabbage is cored in the field, the cored area becomes exposed, subjecting that area to the potential risk of contamination and degradation during transport for subsequent processing.